1. Field of the Technology
The present technology relates to a key switch to be used in an information processing apparatus or the like, and particularly to contact patterns provided on a print substrate of a key switch.
2. Description of the Background Art
A movable rubber contact is often used for a cross-key switch of a remote controller of an electronic device or a controller of a computer game apparatus (e.g., Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-308141). FIG. 21 shows a movable rubber contact 91 of a conventional cross-key switch. FIG. 21(a) is a plain view; FIG. 21(b) is a bottom view; and FIG. 21(c) is a cross-sectional view. The movable rubber contact 91 has a cross-key shaped top portion 93 protruding upwards from the center of a base portion 92, and a bottom end peripheral portion of the cross-key shaped top portion 93 is continuous with the base portion 92 via a thin skirt portion 94. On a back surface of the cross-key shaped top portion 93, a center shaft 95 which acts as a rocking-movement fulcrum is provided, and protrusions 96 are respectively formed at head portions of four XY directions, which protrusions are formed so as to protrude downwards. Conductive rubber contacts 97 are respectively and integrally formed on bottom end faces of the four protrusions 96.
FIG. 22 is a local cross-sectional view of a controller including the movable rubber contact 91. FIG. 23 shows fixed contacts 99 provided on a circuit substrate 98. As shown in FIG. 23, each fixed contact 99 comprises two electrode patterns 99a and 99b which are formed so as to be separate from each other. Each fixed contact 99 is brought into conduction when the two electrode patterns thereof are contacted by a corresponding conductive rubber contact 97 in a straddling manner, whereby a switch of said each fixed contact 99 is turned ON. The four conductive rubber contacts 97 of the movable rubber contact 91 mounted on the circuit substrate 98 respectively face four fixed contacts 99 provided on the circuit substrate 98. Above the cross-key shaped top portion 93, a round-shaped key top 100 is mounted such that the skirt portion 94 or the base portion 92 may not be touched by a finger. When any one of up, down, left and right positions of a top surface of the key top 100 is pressed, the key top 100 and the cross-key shaped top portion 93 integrally rock with respect to the center shaft 95, and one of the conductive rubber contacts 97 provided at the head portions contacts a corresponding one of the fixed contacts 99 on the circuit substrate 98, and thereby the corresponding one of the fixed contacts 99 is brought into conduction. FIG. 24 shows a conduction mechanism of a fixed contact 99. As described above, when one of the conductive rubber contacts 97 contacts a corresponding fixed contact 99 on the circuit substrate 98 in a straddling manner, the electrode patterns 99a and 99b thereof are brought into electrical conduction. By bringing the fixed contact 99 into conduction in this manner, a direction input can be detected, whereby XY coordinate control by a cursor, vertical/horizontal scrolling on a display screen, and the like are enabled.
However, the above-described cross-key switch disclosed by Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-308141 has a problem described below. For example, when the key top of a game pad or the like is pressed in a diagonal direction at 45 degrees toward a position between fixed contacts 99, it is detected that ON inputs have been performed at the same time to switches of the fixed contacts 99 which are present on both sides of the direction, and then data indicating the diagonal direction is outputted FIG. 25 illustrates an example which shows areas of fixed contacts 99, which areas are contacted by conductive rubber contacts 97 in the case where the key top is pressed diagonally upward left at 45 degrees. As shown in FIG. 25, when a sufficient pressing force is applied to the key top, the conductive rubber contacts 97 respectively contact a fixed contact 99 of the up direction and a fixed contact 99 of the left direction such that each conductive rubber contact 97 contacts corresponding electrode patterns in a straddling manner, and switches of both the fixed contacts are turned on.
However, for example, in a player-versus-player fighting game or the like, there is a case where a player is required to quickly perform a complex direction input operation in order to execute a special blow. When such a quick operation is performed, there is a case where a pressing force applied to the key top for an input of a diagonal direction is not sufficient. FIG. 26 illustrates an example which shows areas of fixed contacts 99, which areas are contacted by conductive rubber contacts 97 in the case where the pressing force applied to the key top is not sufficient when the key top is pressed diagonally upper left. In the case of FIG. 26, the areas contacted by the conductive rubber contacts 97 are smaller than in the case of FIG. 24 due to the insufficient pressing force. Accordingly, the conductive rubber contacts 97 each do not contact corresponding electrode patterns 99a and 99b in a straddling manner. Consequently, the switches of the fixed contacts 99 are not turned on. Therefore, even though the player performs an input of the diagonal direction, the input is not detected. Thus, there is a problem that an input intended by the player is not detected by an input device such as a game pad or the like.